Saturn IB Launch is a massive and hard to miss rocket that sits on premise of the Alabama welcome…read morecenter just past the Tennessee/Alabama border line. This evidently was a rocket commissioned by NASA for the Apollo program. Pretty cool And obscure thing to check out when traveling through Alabama. Very visible from both sides of the expressway. However if headed into Alabama from Tennessee you can pull into the rest stop and walk up and get an up close and personal view of the rocket. Overall very cool and fun roadside attraction that is unlike anything I've seen. I always look forward to checking this out when entering the state of Alabama.

This is really cool. We were in the area checking things out and came across this. I thought it was…read morepretty awesome and a magnificent site to see. I would suggest everyone when you're in the area to go check this out.

Vietnam veterans of America monument located on the premise of the Alabama rest stop that is just…read morepast the Tennessee/Alabama state border line. This memorial is in the back of the rest stop behind the giant rocket ship Saturn 1B that can't be missed. Overall a lovely tribute and cool memorial at a rest stop with 3 other cool Public art tributes to check out.

We love finding random things like this. This is an awesome site to see and really enjoy finding…read morememorials and tributes like this.

Alabama right to defend our rights memorial is located on the premise of Alabama welcome center…read morethat you approach when crossing the Tennessee state border into Alabama. Located directly to the left of the main interior area with the restrooms and visitor center the memorial is Alonso shaped like a grave stone and boasts about Alabama defending its rights. Which is always important. Overall cool piece of public art in a rest stop that is full of them with the Saturn 1B rocket, a Vietnam and Korean War memorials as well.

This is another little landmark here at that same rest stop. Next the welcome center. Definitely…read morecheck it out. They have all kinds of cool neat things to see.

Really great trail that runs right along the creek the whole way, with plenty of spots to walk over…read moreinto the water if you choose. (We opted out of this with two wild kiddos and being in from out of town!) While the trail starts on the map where indicated, we recommend parking at the middle school and dropping in midway along the trail. (There's a nice park there as well.) Trail is fairly flat with a few little hills here and there, but overall decent enough that we took a stroller and didn't have any issues beyond just being tired of pushing our youngest. Great views along the way of wooded areas, some little wetland pieces, going under bridges by a busy highway - good variety to keep the little ones entertained and remember landmarks on your return trip of this out and back style trail. Was a wonderful little break to our trip - very happy we found it and highly recommend to anyone passing through.

Great walking trail. Watch out for the homeless people at the south parking area. Recommend you…read morepark at the middle school.

Thank you, John Hunt, for being the historic pioneer who, in 1805, built a cabin in Big Spring Park…read morewhere he and his family resided, and Mr. Hunt is considered the founding father of this fair city! Mr. Hunt was a Revolutionary War veteran, and you guess it - Huntsville was named for him! It's known as the "Rocket City" and its motto is "Star of Alabama." In 1811, Huntsville became the first incorporated town in what is now Alabama. I was conceived and born here. Mom birthed me at Huntsville Hospital. Crestwood Hospital would have been around at that time at its former location off Jordan Lane north of Bob Wallace across from the former Westlawn Middle School. I heart Huntsville! From its humble beginnings as primarily cotton farmland, which began at what is now MidCity to the west which was considered "the country" back in the day. Huntsville has really grown ya'll. In 2022, the estimated population was 227.5K folks, making it the second most populous metropolitan area in the state after the Birmingham metropolitan area. There were 142K people living in Huntsville when I was in high school. Enough backstory. What's to love about Huntsville? We boasted about the largest number of PhDs per capita for decades, and this may still hold true. This differentiates us from other towns in Alabama. In the early 1940s Redstone Arsenal (RSA) was developed. And the rest is history: NASA, U.S. Army, FBI, Missile Defense Agency, AMCOM and more are located on RSA. The growth from cotton fields to rocket development was phenomenal. And the last two decades have ushered in a huge influx of people. You can barely drive a block without seeing orange construction barrels and cones, along with the ubiquitous crane. Apartment complexes are the latest developments with fewer condos for purchase. This influx has nurtured local restaurants [Cotton Row, Commerce Kitchen, all the Church Street Family eateries/wine shoppes, Green Bottle Grille] and extensive chain restaurants, too. There are craft coffee cards to get stamped, craft brewery cards to get stamped, and more "trails" to follow including real outdoor hiking at Monte Sano State Park, my favorite - Green Mountain, and Ditto Landing. Various entertainment venues are now options in "Hunts Vegas" including Mars, the Orion, the Von Braun Center, and bars with stages both big and small. HSV has the friendliness of a small southern town, with the perks of a larger city. We have rooftop bars, and lovely patios, covered picnic pavilions and sports - the Trash Pandas are always fun at Toyota Field, the Havoc are a blast if you love ice hockey, and we have a soccer [European "football"] team now, and there's always the Dixie Derby Girls, who do roller derby. Don't forget the US Space and Rocket Center and Space Camp, the Huntsville Botanical Garden, the Huntsville Museum of Art, Burritt Museum, the Weeden House, Constitution Hall Park and Museum, Early Works, the Huntsville/Madison County Veterans Memorial Park, the planetarium, and the mixed-use facilities, Lowe Mill, Campus 805, Stovehouse, and MidCity [with more on the way!] You can find events and festivals here: https://www.huntsville.org/events/festivals/ A great destination picnic location is Ditto Landing. Bank fish, or launch your boat and enjoy the beautiful bridge connecting south Huntsville to Lacey's Spring. If nothing in Huntsville "whets your whistle" or you are just itching to get out of town, Nashville is just 90 minutes north, Birmingham is 90 minutes south, Atlanta is ~ 4.5 hours SW, and the white sands of Orange Beach are just 5.5 hours due south. It's a hop and skip down to New Orleans by car, and you can always opt for the train that departs from Birmingham. Just please, please, don't move here - we are getting "full up" with people! Hence the 4 versus 5 stars. Traffic is also really crappy since the infrastructure has not kept pace with the population growth. Another minus for the Huntsville metro area is the dire lack of public transportation. Regardless of various efforts [I'm looking at you "Shuttle" busses and not "Orbit" busses], this is an area Huntsville falls short, especially for those who are wheelchair bound.

I've been in Huntsville for 3 months now and love it. There is so much to do and see here. Of…read morecourse it's the home of the Space & Rocket Center and Redstone Arsenal. Land of opportunity for careers! I've had several interactions with the actual departments of the City of Huntsville as well. One was a frustrating experience dealing with the City Engineer to get my certificate Occupancy for my house. I had to contact the Mayors Office and they resolved the issue within a few hours. Since then no issues. I also have my utilities through the city. Interestingly enough, they combine electric, water, and trash here. Their electric rates have been through the roof during the winter. I guess we will see how it changes in the. Next couple months. Another pro - taxes are cheap and the city offers a homestead tax break for people who own their primary residence in the City of Huntsville.

If you're a Jack Daniel's fan, this is absolutely worth a stop…read more We actually chose not to do the full distillery tour, even though it looked incredibly well organized and the property itself is beautiful. Even without the tour, we had a fantastic experience. One of the unexpected highlights was the free shuttle that takes you from the parking area through historic Lynchburg to the Welcome Center. Along the way, the driver shares interesting history about the town and the distillery, which was a nice touch. The Welcome Center also offers a Whiskey Trail passport where you can collect stamps and free poker chips from participating Tennessee distilleries. We only had time to visit Jack Daniel's, but it was a really fun keepsake and definitely made us want to come back and explore more. Instead of the tour tasting, we opted for one of the paid tastings. I'm so glad we did because we were able to choose the whiskeys we actually wanted to try instead of a preset tasting lineup. The gentleman leading our tasting was knowledgeable, friendly, and shared plenty of history about both the distillery and each whiskey we sampled. The gift shops are adorable, and the pedestrian bridge makes it easy to walk into downtown Lynchburg, where there are plenty of locally owned shops and Jack Daniel's merchandise to browse. It's a charming little town that's perfect for strolling. I left with a small bottle of Single Barrel that became my evening sip for the rest of our road trip, and it was the perfect souvenir. Even without taking the full tour, this was a wonderful experience. If we find ourselves back in the area, we'd absolutely visit again--and next time we may finally take that tour. 10/10 would recommend.

Honest experience review: Historically one of the best whiskeys, and historically one of the must…read morestops of Tennessee. 5/5 Made it a point to stop in Lynchburg for the JD's Distillery and it was everything I could have expected this experience to be. The slushy was absolutely better in the hot summer day as we walked the property to learn about the history of the origination and the master distillers story. Years of history and purity are what make the whiskey what it is. Enjoyed world wide, and for a good reason. I would have just wished the tour was more centralized around the water tunnel where they show you the demineralization process of the water they use. Probably the coolest spot in Tennessee. Simply a MUST stop and worth the price of the tour. Absolutely loved every bit of it his tour. Worth every ounce of sweat to experience one of my favorite whiskeys! Didn't disappoint, and our tour guide was amazing! Wishing her a happy retirements and a huge thank you for being a school teacher in her county! Thank you for educating us on the process to make the Jack Daniel's Whiskey we all love and appreciate! (Didn't post all the pictures to let you experience this yourself!)

This is a quaint glimpse of what Madison, Alabama was like until the population and growth…read moreexplosion that hit this particular area. Main Street is a quiet and definitely has that small town feel to it. Like I said, Madison, Alabama has exploded in growth and population and I would consider the area around the stadium to be the new main area of Madison. Still, this is a very cool place to check out and I would definitely recommend here and I give it five stars overall. If you find yourself anywhere in the area, I would definitely recommend checking this glimpse into the past out.

Main Street is a small block or two in old Madison. It was the commerce hub when Madison was…read moredeveloped in the 1850s around a stop of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad. Main Street is home to the Main Street Café (which is the former site of a local prison and features a jail cell you can dine in) and Old Black Bear Brewery, Madison (which also has an Athens, AL location). Other Main Street-area businesses currently are Holtz Leather (store front is Sullivan Street), Murphy Homes, and the Lanier House Tea Room and Private Venue. Main Street is surrounded by unique 1800s period architecture including homes on Church Street. The gazebo and surrounding historical markers on Main Street are worth a stop, albeit brief, to check out! I agree with yelper John M.'s review! And, honestly, one can drive right by Main Street Madison, AL without noticing it. Since the Town Madison development has come into play, the area around the Toyota Stadium now offers many entertainment, dining, and housing options and is considered "Madison" also. Of course, Town Madison does not have the old school charm and coziness of Main Street, Madison.

Main Street becomes State Line Road and we have the border between Alabama and Tennessee, but as…read moreyou go under the railroad bridge and before you cross into the Volunteer State, there is a marker for Alabama on the side of the road here. It reads: Alabama. Derived from the Creek Indian phrase meaning "Here we rest." In the early 1700's, several Spanish expeditions visited the State; in 1702 the French founded Mobile and settled near Tallapoosa. Alabama became a territory in 1817, a state in 1819. Montgomery was also the first capital of the Confederacy. And then my comment... because here in the South, we don't call it the "Civil War." It was "The War of Northern Aggression."

I love the Cambron Covered Bridge! Located atop beautiful Green Mountain on the Green Mountain…read moreNature Trail, it was built in 1974. This bridge is named after Joe E. Cambron, who was the Madison County Bridge Foreman from 1958-1974. Starting at the pavilion and hiking around, the bridge is located near the end of the 1.5 very easy trail. The Green Mountain Nature Trail is recognized as a Treasure Forest by the Alabama Forestry Commission, and it is also considered a Wildlife Sanctuary. The bridge is rustic as one would expect with numerous windows from which you can take some beautiful photographs of the lake and the park. It's especially pretty when we have beautiful fall colors!

Nice covered bridge in a peaceful setting…read more.. Covered bridges are scattered all around North Alabama and we had a glimpse of this bridge that took us back in time, when life was simpler. It's pretty cool... When we got to the bridge there was a kid fishing from one of the windows. Cambron Covered Bridge was built in 1974 and is located in Huntsville in Madison County AL. We walked on the wide gravel path that led to the bridge. The trail crosses the Cambron Covered Bridge surrounding Sky Lake. Entrance to the park is free, open to the public from 7a until 30 minutes prior to sunset. There are three large windows on each side of the bridge letting natural light in so it isn't so dark inside when you cross the bridge. Just below the windows are wooden benches. The bridge is picturesque and makes for great pictures, especially the black and white effect. I don't normally come across covered bridges too often... in fact, this may be my first time seeing one in real life (the covered bridge from the movie, The Bridges of Madison County, doesn't count). Review #1858